How to safely re open schools

 

Yesterday, the CDC released robust, science-based guidelines to keep students and educators safe from the coronavirus in K-12 school buildings. Here’s the reality: these strategies and requirements aren’t being met in many of our schools.  We need to protect students and educators with proven safety measures, and we need the funding to do it. Urge Congress to pass the American Rescue Plan, with $210 billion to ensure safe and just schools for all students from kindergarten to college.

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These funds will help reduce class sizes and modify spaces to comply with social distancing, modernize HVAC systems, hire more school custodians, nurses, and counselors, facilitate social distancing on school transportation services, and put in place testing, tracking, and tracing programs.   Most schools, especially those attended by Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor white students, have been underfunded for decades. They have severely outdated ventilation systems. Too many schools do not have in place the basic protections that the CDC has said are universally required. And, no school budget had “COVID-19 response” written into it. State and local leaders cannot pick and choose which guidelines to follow and which students get resources to keep them safe. Too many schools do not have in place the basic protections that the CDC has said are universally required. But that changes if we come together—educators, families, and communities, across race and across place—to demand action from our leaders.  Help get our students and educators the resources they need for safe and just learning. › Students and educators have been failed by too many politicians who have ignored health and science, divided communities, and failed to act. But now, with a partner in the White House and a pro-public education Congress, we have the opportunity to open school buildings right, to do it safely, and to do it as quickly as resources allow.   Congress must invest in America and provide the funding and resources that our students, educators, and families need. The new CDC guidance is a good first step, but now it’s time for action. If they are applied universally in every community and the resources are put in place equitably for all students, our school buildings will be safe for in-person learning. In solidarity, Becky Pringle President National Education Association P.S. Check out this article on NEA Today to learn more about the new CDC standards for K-12 schools.  Take Action ›